I just now visited the city planning dept's "Uniform Land Use Review Procedure (ULURP)" webpage to understand the review process ahead of time. Hey David, can you give us a quick summary in plain English? http://www.nyc.gov/html/dcp/html/luproc/ulpro.shtml

Okay, so the CIDC's rezoning is reviewed by the Community Board, Borough Prez, Planning Commission, City Council...
Question: can just one of 'em kill it or hold things up by voting no? (that's what someone told me, but the web page makes it seem more complicated)
Can any of them say yes contingent upon specific changes or amendments to be made to the rezoning after it comes out, or is it all or nothing?

I was surprised to read: "Mayoral approval is not required. A decision by the City Council to approve or disapprove a land use application is considered to be final unless the Mayor elects to veto a Council action within 5 days of the vote. The Council, by a 2/3 vote, can override a Mayor's veto of its decision within 10 days of the veto."

What about the Community Board public hearing? Does the hearing happen fairly soon after the rezoning is released? Have there been any instances where public hearings actually made a real difference in the outcome?  (if I sound cynical, it's because of the Atlantic Yards)

I'll explain it tomorrow.  I have to go get something to eat now.  I advise people not to post stuff until I get back so as not to clog up the thread.

Thanks!

ok, here's the ULURP chart for the Coney Island project as discussed on the City Planning website.

I'm also doing an annotated version here.

Opportunities for public input are highlighted in red.

Commencement of Public Outreach -  Now
This is happening now.  There will be an information session on Monday the 19th at Coney Island Hospital

Scoping Notice - December 2007
The Scoping notice is a Public Notice that announces the beginning of the EIS process.  The Scoping Notice sets the bounds of the study undertaken by the EIS; certain types of projects and projects of a certain size trip the more exhausting EIS process; this is one of those projects.

Everyone who is interested in the project should read the Scoping Notice and be prepared to issue written and verbal comments.

Public scoping meeting on the Draft Scope of Work for an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) to be prepared in relation to the Coney Island comprehensive plan - January 2008
A month after the Scoping Notice is issued, there will be one or more Scoping Meetings; these are an opportunity for the public to make comments on the scoping document.  Typically, there will be a presentation of the proposal (in this case the rezoning) and a discussion of what the EIS will cover.  The public will also have a chance to speak and provide written testimony.

After the scoping meeting, theoretically, comments will be incorporated into the scoping document and work will begin on the EIS.  The EIS can take many months since it's typically a 1,000 page document written according to the City Environmental Quality Review document.

The purpose of the EIS is to provide the baseline of existing conditions and then determine the impact of the proposed action and the impact if the action had not occurred.

The EIS does not place a value judgement of whether projects are a good idea or a bad idea; rather they put out the conditions so that the decision makers (elected officials) can use them to guide the decision making process.

State Legislation for Alienation of Parkland - 6 months
The city will submit the parks alienation and remapping legislation, through Assemblyman Brook-Krasny and Senator Savino at the beginning of January.  This happens independently of the ULURP and the EIS process and is not dependent on them.

While it is entirely possible that the legislature acts on it immediately, it is more likely that it will be taken care of in the last week of the legislative session in late June.

Typically, it can take six months to review parkland alienation cases, but in the case of Yankee Stadium, it happened in three days.  No one knows whether that means that the state legislature has turned into a rubber stamp or will now review cases with a more detailed eye.

Figure that the alienation and remapping, if approved, will be ratified on July 1.

The Department of City Planning certifies the ULURP applications as complete and refers the applications to the Community Board and Borough President. - July 1, 2008 (est)

Once the EIS is done and the parkland legislation has gone through, City Planning will receive the application and certify it "complete" meaning that it is now ready to be reviewed by various levels of government.

If the parks legislation and the EIS wrap up in April, then the ULURP process can begin then...but it is more likely that it the EIS and parks legislation will wrap up on July 1.  So we'll use that as the start of the ULURP Process.

So, for purposes of this disucssion, ULURP begins on July 1

Community Board Review - 60 days
The Community Board will have 60 days to review the ULURP application and make comments.  Part of that 60 days will include a public hearing.

On Sept 1, the  Comunity Board will send its recommendations to City Planning, and the application will move to the Borough President Level.

Borough President Review - 30 days
The Borough President has 30 days to review the application.  He will also have a public meeting so that the public can make comments.

After 30 days, on October 1, the Borough President will send his recommendations to City Planning and the application will move on to the planning commission.

City Planning Commission Review and
City Planning Commission public hearing - 60 days.
The Planning Commission also has two months to review the application and make recommendations.  The Planning Department will schedule a public hearing on the action for public input and then about a month later, will vote on the action.  If the commission approves, the application will move onto the City Council with all corresponding votes and recommendations, on December 1.

City Council Review and
City Council public hearing - 50 days
Now the City Council takes up the application and reviews it.  The City Council will schedule a public hearing, and then about a month later, will schedule a vote on the action, on or about January 20th, 2009.

The mayor then has 45 days to approve the application, approve it by ignoring it, or throw it out.

Accordingly, everything should be wrapped up by mid-March 2009.

"a lawsuit can stop things in their tracks"


sounds like this is the worst thing that could happen.
the time line is crucial. as it is, I'm already wondering what the 2009 season will look like